Also extremely unlikely Connolly is with the big club. He stays, along with Panik to assume bigger roles with Syracuse, and when we have better options in place for Syracuse next season (namely Kucherov) to lose a forward to the big club, then they'll get another look. Labrie, Wyman, Brown, Killorn, possibly Barberio will be callups.

I'd love to see some more Crunch guys in there but I won't keep my hopes up. I wish the Lightning would take after Syracuse in the character/toughness department, as the high end skill is already there. While I'm pumped for the NHL to be back, I find our AHL affiliate to be a more exciting team. Not many groups I recall that are/were as tight and as well rounded as the Crunch are today.

Regardless, I'm fine with most of these lineups. I don't get the love for Wyman but I doubt he ends up being a regular if everyone's healthy.

I'm gonna guess that the opening night roster will be somewhere in between those two. Maybe Conacher instead of Connolly, and only one of Johnson or Killorn get called up. Aulie only gets called up if he is going to be playing as one of our top 6 dmen.

Thoughts:
- I like Malone on a line with Marty/Stammer
- If we are going to have a young scoring line forward, they should probably play on Vinny's line
- 3rd line center is a big question mark. Is Killorn or Johnson ready for it?
- How is Lindback's injury? (Didn't he have stitches in his leg or something?)
- OMG, NHL hockey!

I think with how well the Crunch are playing and the players are developing I don't think we''ll bring up too many prospects. I only see Connolly since he has NIL experience, and he's showing the scoring we had hoped. I think we keep Aullie down just so there's no chance to lose him to waivers. It's not the strongest looking team but we are slowly building a deep organization and don't think we should rush anybody. It all depends on how Lindback does to know how we should decide to play any rookies.

Am i the only one thinking that Malone will be in the third line? freeing a spot on the top six for a rookie/connoly. And i am sorry for saying this but i think we should but mikkelson in waivers.

If we are gonna put Malone on the 3rd line we might as well just trade him. We can't pay a 3rd liner that kind of money with a lower cap and he has trade value. Im sure he'll be on the top 2 lines cause he's our only proven LW.

I didn't realize Aullie would have to go through waivers to stay in the A so im sure he'll be on the team now. I think Angelidis will also get a chance to be the 3/4 line LW cause he'd need to go through waivers, I doubt he'd get picked up but I think he can help the big club.

If we are gonna put Malone on the 3rd line we might as well just trade him. We can't pay a 3rd liner that kind of money with a lower cap and he has trade value. Im sure he'll be on the top 2 lines cause he's our only proven LW.

I didn't realize Aullie would have to go through waivers to stay in the A so im sure he'll be on the team now. I think Angelidis will also get a chance to be the 3/4 line LW cause he'd need to go through waivers, I doubt he'd get picked up but I think he can help the big club.

Aulie signed a lockout contract with the Syracuse Crunch. Even when he was free to sign anywhere he wanted, the allure of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization was too great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowden

Mikkelson was far from terrible. He's a capable bottom pairing guy who got bumped up due to injuries. Some of you are misremembering how he played.

As I recall, the Lightning kind of faded in conditioning, Mikkelsson was a guy who benefitted from a lot since he's a guy who hits.

Aulie signed a lockout contract with the Syracuse Crunch. Even when he was free to sign anywhere he wanted, the allure of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization was too great.

He wasn't free to sign with anyone we owned his rights, he was resigned as a RFA and assigned to Syracuse. Paul Ranger let his RFA eligibility pass and then he was free to sign anywhere and thats why he was able to join the Marlies.

Mikkelson is ok for a bottom pair guy, he'll be on the team but he might be a healthy scratch most nights due to our D depth.

I think with how well the Crunch are playing and the players are developing I don't think we''ll bring up too many prospects. I only see Connolly since he has NIL experience, and he's showing the scoring we had hoped. I think we keep Aullie down just so there's no chance to lose him to waivers. It's not the strongest looking team but we are slowly building a deep organization and don't think we should rush anybody. It all depends on how Lindback does to know how we should decide to play any rookies.

Am i the only one thinking that Malone will be in the third line? freeing a spot on the top six for a rookie/connoly. And i am sorry for saying this but i think we should but mikkelson in waivers.

Maybe not necessarily for a rookie but Malone-Pyatt-Connolly was together as a line during the end of the season, so it could happen. Boucher plays him like a defensive forward sometimes and mixes up the lines, but with only 5 (Stamkos, Marty, Vinny, Purcell, Malone) proven top6 forwards he may stay up in the line up. Malone-Stamkos-Purcell wasn't so bad either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowden

Mikkelson was far from terrible. He's a capable bottom pairing guy who got bumped up due to injuries. Some of you are misremembering how he played.

When I think of what Mikkelson was, he was a guy on the cusp that just needed a chance and he got that with us over calling up Barberio or Gudas. It will be interesting if contracts and limited icetime/sitting out games as the #7 or #8 dman play a factor again though for the kids still on entry level deals.

The lightning resigned Mikkelson because they liked what they saw and thought he could continue to improve, and I like Mikkelson too, but it's hard to judge. I haven't seen him play since last April while Gudas imo looked like the best defenseman on the Admirals during their playoff run, and has continued to look good this season. And the bolts would love to add what Barberio can bring too. It's been a year since Mikkelson was added to our team so I think it's possible one of the Crunch defenders battle for his spot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Still All In

Connolly would have to have one hell of a camp to make the big club. Don't see it happening.

No chance at Johnson this season.

I completely disagree. I don't think he has it locked up but I think he has a really good shot. BP made some interesting points on this in their lineup predictions write up. Because of the very short camp, lack of preseason games, and a short season that St. Louis says will "feel like doing a hundred-yard sprint without warming up" Boucher might pick guys who can pick up the system fast. Connolly has the advantage here. His familiarity with the system, chemistry with other players, and everything thing he did/learned in the NHL last year are something a lot of the other Crunch kids lack.

Aside from that he's been very good with the Crunch. Yzerman and Boucher have seen the Crunch play many many times so they know what's up there in Syracuse. He's been one of the players for them that consistently plays well each and every game. Besides having the points and confidence now, his all around game is much improved. I've watch a lot of Crunch games this season so I think he definitely has a real good shot.

As for Johnson, I'm not so sure. I guess it depends what they are looking for and what their plan of development is for Johnson. For me, he's been one of the best players for the Crunch all season long.

__________________
VL4ever"It's still All In to me dammit." - Felonious Python

Conacher just has a better work ethic, and frankly, better scoring touch at this point.

I think both can be debatable. I think Conacher wins in work ethic because his game is full hustle and he's had to work so hard to prevail and make it this far, but imo Connolly is also the better goal scorer. He's always been known to have a deadly shot, great hands, and a true finishers touch. But the difference for either one of them isn't enough to be real cut above the other so I don't think it really matters. They both work hard on and off the ice and they both can be good offensive players in the NHL.

I wonder how they're going to work out a training camp with relation to the Crunch schedule...Looks like they don't have many consecutive days off during the time when a training camp would take place. Which I would assume would mean only 2 or 3 players at the most come, right?

He wasn't free to sign with anyone we owned his rights, he was resigned as a RFA and assigned to Syracuse. Paul Ranger let his RFA eligibility pass and then he was free to sign anywhere and thats why he was able to join the Marlies.

Mikkelson is ok for a bottom pair guy, he'll be on the team but he might be a healthy scratch most nights due to our D depth.

Also extremely unlikely Connolly is with the big club. He stays, along with Panik to assume bigger roles with Syracuse and when we have better options in place for Syracuse next season (namely Kucherov) to lose a forward to the big club, then they'll get another look.

The same can be said about pretty much every skill forward currently with the Crunch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Still All In

Connolly would have to have one hell of a camp to make the big club. Don't see it happening.

The training camp, like the season, is going to be condensed and the organization, with Yzerman already noticeably spending more time than usual observing the Crunch in person, probably already has a strong idea of a) who they're bringing in and b) who's going to stick. I seriously doubt one week's worth of drills and scrimmages is going to change that.

Certainly, there's much more to a player evaluation that stats but you seem to be letting personal preference guide your conclusions. Cory Conacher exploded onto the scene last season and got off to a hot start this season and that's great but he's had trouble finding the net, started pressing and was benched not too long ago for an entire period and continues to let his emotions override sensibility at times. Cooper's still got some work to do in reigning him in and keeping him focuses. Yes, he's fun to watch and you can't help but love that he's a smaller guy with the heart of a warrior but let's not pretend he hasn't had his own struggles.

After a slower start, Connolly has been rock solid for Syracuse, he's demonstrating his vision and hands, utilizing his size along the boards and moving to the high-traffic areas on a consistent basis. And, given his relative abundance of NHL seasoning, he's the logical choice to get the first crack to stick with the big club during an abbreviated season. That's not a knock against Conacher or anybody other forward in Syracuse, several of whom (Brown, Conacher, Killorn, Panik) are probably set going to be with the big club in the fall.

Obviously, we don't have a direct year-to-year comparison for Connolly since he played in the NHL last season but when you look at his usage (stints in and stretches outside the top-6, minimal PP time) and his extremely low 4.6 shooting % in 11-12, unless you truly believe his 11-12 season is more like his true talent level even when he's used as a key key offensive cog and his shooting % stabilizes (right now, it's a healthy 16.5% with the Crunch), there's no reason not to be bullish on him. Or at least want to see, if you're the Bolts brass, if your thoroughbred, who looks stronger and more confident than ever previously, is ready to run the big-track.